AIZAWL, June 21:  Triggering fresh concerns, as many as 528 inmates of an orphanage-cum-rehabilitation centre in Mizoram have tested positive for Covid-19, officials said on Monday.

Officials of the Health and Family Welfare Department said that during a mass screening at the orphanage, samples of 989 out of the 1,500 inmates were tested, of which 528 returned positive.

They said that five of the inmates had recently tested positive, forcing the health officials to conduct mass testing at the centre on Sunday.

The officials said that more positive cases might be detected after the samples of the remaining 511 inmates are tested.

“During the past 24 hours, the number of active Covid cases in Mizoram increased to 4,132 as against 3,603 on Sunday. Of the 529 new cases, 528 are from the orphanage,” the officials told the media.

The privately run orphanage-cum-rehabilitation centre, Thutak Nupuitu Team (TNT), which is registered with the state government, is located on the outskirts of Aizawl.

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said that he is personally monitoring the situation. He told the media that a medical team led by senior doctors has been sent to the orphanage, where some of the infected inmates are asymptomatic, while some are symptomatic.

“All kinds of precautionary and treatment measures have been taken for the well-being of the inmates,” the Chief Minister said.

According to the health officials, the state has so far reported 17,605 Covid cases, of which 13,390 have recovered from the disease. Till date, 83 persons have died due to Covid-19 Mizoram, with a fatality rate of 0.47 per cent against the national average of 1.30 per cent.

According to the Covid data released by the Union Health Ministry on Monday, the death rate in Mizoram is the fourth lowest in the country after Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (0.04 per cent), Odisha (0.41 per cent) and Kerala (0.43 per cent).

Six districts of the state — Aizawl (72), Kolasib (4), Serchhip (3), Mamit (2), Champhai (1) and Saitual (1) — have reported all the 83 Covid deaths so far.
IANS